ORIGINAL: kiswa
The SSE kit I bought was $77. Once I bought everything else (electronics, engine, all building and covering supplies mentioned) the final tally for this bird is $360.
Now, if you consider the ARF is $206 and you'd still have to buy electronics and engine... price isn't any better. In fact, if you buy Tower Hobbies combo for this ARF, the price they give you for everything you need is $478.29.
That makes my kit over $100 cheaper. And a lot of the build items I bought can be used on the next kit I build.
And you get to modify/beef up the structure as you wanted and put on the colors you wanted. All worth much more than the mere satisfaction of a good build